


Escaping The Court

by MightyMidget



Series: The Cobblepot Family Dynasty [1]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: After A Year Of Writers Block I DID IT!, Apologies, Choking, Crying Edward, Emotional Constipation, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Hugo Strange's Experiments, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Identity Reveal, Isabella Reveal, Just Read It!, M/M, Mentions of Death, Minor Character Death, Regret, Revelations, Riddles, Sorrow, These Boys Need To Talk!, keeping secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 19:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11607639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyMidget/pseuds/MightyMidget
Summary: Whilst escaping from The Court Of Owls dungeon, Edward Nygma and Oswald Cobblepot find more than just their freedom. What secret has Oswald been keeping which will be forced into the open? Will Ed finally see the light? Whatever will happen, the Penguin and the Riddler will face it together.





	Escaping The Court

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Readers.
> 
> After more than a year of writers block, I finally found my muse one morning. She was hiding under my couch the whole time!  
> Seriously though, I feel like I need to apologise. I know I have two or three stories unfinished on my page, and for the moment I really don't know what will become of them. I wrote this because after such a long dry spell, when I found inspiration I followed it blindly. We can't look a gift horse in the mouth after all. The only promise I can make is that I will try to make it back to my old works at some point, but right now Gotham has become a very big source of material for me and I have almost a million ideas for this, and almost none for Supernatural. If I get it back, I will update the others. Right now though, this series will be my main. I hope you won't be too disappointed, and anyone reading this enjoys this work for what it is, my metaphorical 'getting back on the horse'.
> 
> I am dedicating this story, and this series, to my wonderful Beta, my Sun and Stars, Helen! After all this time she still manages to support me, and I really don't know where I would be without her. Thank you, love. x
> 
> MightyMidget xxx

Their escape from the Court Of Owls dungeons was not going as well as Oswald had expected. After taking out the guards thanks to their play acting, they had fled into the outer chamber and from their found themselves lost in a never ending maze of tunnels. It felt like they had been wandering around for hours and Oswald’s temper was starting to fray – especially since he was stuck down here with the insufferable Riddler. Seriously, did he actually think that name was impressive or something?  
  
“Oh for the love of...Damn it all to hell!” Oswald snarled when the turned another corner and found themselves at a dead end. He glared at the stone wall and aimed a swift kick, yelping when his foot slammed into it and biting his lip harshly to stop any more sound escaping. He only hoped Edward hadn’t noticed.  
  
A snort of laughter from behind him dashed his hopes to pieces. He spun around to face the taller man behind him, eye twitching with suppressed rage.  
  
“I suppose you think that was funny, do you?” Oswald barked and Ed put a hand over his heart in mock indignation.  
  
“Moi? Why Oswald do you really think so little of me? That I would find pleasure in your little tantrums?” Edward grinned manically at Oswald’s seething and rolled his eyes. “Yeah okay, that does sound like me. But you have to admit...you deserve it!” Oswald tried to ignore the twinge of pain in his heart, but it couldn’t be helped. No matter what Ed would never understand what Oswald had done for him. He couldn’t allow it. He fixed his face in a scowl and huffed, storming forward and pushing his way past the grinning Edward and heading back down the passageway until he found another turn.  
  
The pain in his leg was making it increasingly hard to keep up his angry pace but he was refusing to show any weakness around Edward, no matter how much it he wanted to it down and rest. They had to get out of here, the sooner the better, and then he could get back to rebuilding his empire. Edward could easily see the trouble Oswald was having with his leg, he knew the man too well even now and he missed nothing, but he seemed to be going out of his way to make the situation worse for the shorter man. He kept his pace easily, by skipping alongside him and smiling cheerfully whenever Oswald’s step landed too heavily, sending a bolt of fire up his damaged never endings. It was worse torture than anything Oswald had imagined but he refused to back down. No to the likes of Edward Nygma.  
  
“What did I do to deserve this? It’s just my luck I would wind up lost in this underground labyrinth with Edward Goddamn Nygma!” Oswald hissed, more to himself than to Ed but it made the taller man smile to hear the frustration in his former friends voice.  
  
“Yes, isn’t it wonderful? You must feel so lucky! I mean come on Oswald look on the bright side...you finally have me all to yourself. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Ed taunted,  and Oswald had to close his eyes and check himself, to keep from saying something he knew he’d regret later. If there even was a later of which to speak. Edward didn’t really know how terribly his words were tearing Oswald apart...not that the Penguin thought he’d care if he did know. This was not really his Ed. Not any more.   
  
“Besides, we’re not lost. I know exactly where we are.” Oswald stopped dead in his tracks as Edward turned to smirk at him in that smug ass way he knew so well.  
  
“...Are you telling me...that we have been wandering in this dank dungeon for hours...and you knew where we were THE WHOLE TIME!!” Oswald snarled, the rage that had been building reaching boiling point.  
  
“Okay one, it has only been thirty minutes so stop exaggerating...” Ed grinned at him when he spluttered indignantly but pushed on regardless. “And two...I would have thought our location would be obvious, even to you.” Oswald clenched his fists by his side, willing his fraying temper down as his nails dug into his palms painfully. After a few careful, steadying breaths through his nose, the noise making him sound like a pawing bull ready to charge, he spoke  
.  
“Sorry to disappoint you, but no, it isn’t. Perhaps it is only noticeable to those with abnormal brains...” Oswald smirked as Ed’s grin faltered just a bit, the bright eyes growing dark for a moment. “But for us normal people, well...why don’t you enlighten us?” Ed’s eye twitched slightly at the veiled  insult but finally his expression cleared and he become excitable again.  
  
“I can be either hot or cold  
A threat to the timid or the bold  
All evil meets me at knell  
And into me first Angels fell.  
What am I?”  
  
Oswald sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, really he should have known better than to expect a straight answer out of The Riddler. Thankfully, to this one, he knew the answer.  
  
“Hell, Edward? Really?” Oswald snapped, hating the fact that Edward’s smile grew when he got the right answer.  
  
“Correct! Give the Penguin a fish!” Ed cheered, laughing when Oswald huffed and pushed past him again, choosing to ignore him in favour of searching for the exit. “Of course, how could it be anywhere else? After all...why else would I be stuck here with a traitor like you?”.  
  
Oswald’s temper snapped.  
  
Edward had no time to react when Oswald whirled around, charging at him with a shriek of rage which reverberated throughout the corridors. Oswald barrelled into him, tackling him to the ground and knocking the wind from him, teeth bared in snarling rage. If Ed could have formed a proper thought, before he brought his hands up to wrap around Oswald’s neck, he might have admired the fire with which the little Penguin fought. He was so proper and in control all the time, but when he lost control of that facade there was a snarling beast hiding under the surface. Even when Ed’s hands tighten around his pale throat, and the taller man used his larger frame to roll them over, slamming him into the ground and increasing the pressure on his windpipe, Oswald never let up. The Penguin used everything he had, including teeth and claws, to tear and bite at any part of Ed he could reach.  
Ed couldn’t help but lose himself in the feeling of having this man, this powerful Kingpin of Gotham, struggling under him and fighting for breath. The way his eyes fluttered as he fought to pull air into his lungs, throat muscles flexing and flutter as he tried to swallow, it was all so very intoxicating. But the Riddler wouldn’t be fooled, and he wouldn’t let up until Oswald was unconscious. He had no plans to actually kill him...not yet, maybe not ever...but he gad to be sure that the Penguin was incapable of killing him. They had a truce, and the rules of the game had to be followed.  
  
When Oswald finally fell limp under him, limbs losing their strength in their blows and his arms falling prone at his sides, Ed let his grip slacken just a little, a small smile gracing his lips. Oswald looked almost cute like this...too bad he would be angry again when he woke up again. Ed finally let go of the small mans throat and leant in close to check that he was breathing clearly...when Oswald’s eyes snapped open and a manic grin crossed his lips.  
  
“Surprise!” Oswald yelled, and brought his knee crashing upwards into Edward’s exposed crotch. The Riddler’s world went white.  
The force of the blow sent all the air in Edward’s lungs outwards in a harsh scream, and he doubled over with pain, crying out again when Oswald jerked forward and smashed his forehead against Edward’s nose, laughing when the sickening crunch of breaking bone sounded in his ears. Ed was torn between gripping his throbbing groin and covering his broken nose, head swimming and vision starting to darken around the edges. He heard Oswald’s voice somewhere in the distance but it was unintelligible nonsense. Gosh, he was tired. He could really go for a little nap right about now.  
  
“Round one to me, I think?” Oswald said smugly, watching as his former friend swayed on his knees above him, blood pouring steadily down his face from his busted nose. Something about the glazed look in his eyes snapped Oswald out of his gloating, and he tried to sit up to get a better look. “Ed? Are you okay?”  
  
Ed squinted and saw through the growing shadows the eyes of the man he knew so well...Oswald. Had he always been so pretty? No, nope, not going there. He could feel himself starting to drift, his body like a lead weight as he pitched forward, landing flat against something so very soft and warm.  
  
_He’d always catch you...  
_  
Ed finally allowed the dark to claim him, passing out on top of his friend.  
  
_My Oswald._  
  


* * *

  
“Ed stay with me! No...Don’t you dar OW!” Oswald cried out before the sound was stolen from him by the dead weight of Edward crashing into him. He flailed, pushed and struggled with all his remaining strength to push Edward off him but it was a losing battle from the start. Ed might have been skinny, but his height and natural muscle gave him an advantage on Oswald, and currently that advantage was pressing its dead weight down on Oswald’s chest.  
  
The smaller man managed to push Ed only a few inches off himself, enough so he could raise his hand and slap him across the face.  
  
“Nygma! Wake up and get off me you great gangling OAF!” His words died in his chest again as he lost his grip and Ed collapsed on him again, leaving him panting and aching all over.  
  
_Well you always did want to know what he felt like pressed down against you...feels pretty good huh?_ A small traitorous voice spoke in his head, and he had to shake himself to banish those thoughts before...Too late! Oswald groaned in dismay when he felt a stirring in his groin, and his cock started to fill, stiffening against Ed’s thigh.  
  
“Oh no. No no no! Not here not now!” Oswald muttered to himself, trying to will his erection away but having no success. “Edward!” He scrambled to readjust himself under Ed, slapping at his back and pushing at his shoulders. “Wake up, wake up damn you!”  
Oswald shifted his hips, hissing and groaning as his cock brushed against Ed again, dropping his head back against the stone floor with a groan. “Okay think Oswald, think! We’ve thought down an erection before we can do it again! Think of something disgusting” Jim Gordon naked! His cock twitched at the thought, and his eyes flew open wide in shock. Oswald twisted so he could glare down past Edward’s prone body to roughly were his crotch would be. “Really?! He’s our friend!” _Our gorgeous friend._ Oswald huffed and lay back again, pointedly ignoring his own erection. “You are incorrigible!” _What did I do?!_ “You are the reason we’re in this mess!” _Oh sure, blame me...your heart had nothing to do with it!”_  
  
Oswald was too busy arguing with himself that he didn’t even notice Edward starting to stir.  
  
“Not to interrupt your melodrama but...are you arguing with your penis?” Ed asked, stifled laughter vibrating through Oswald’s chest as Ed raised his head to grin at him. Oswald felt a flush creep up his neck, and for a moment he wished he could crawl back into the river and never show his face again. This was utterly embarrassing.  
  
“No!” Oswald snapped, but the quiver in his voice told the truth even if his mouth was lying. Ed grinned cheekily up at Oswald and cocked his head to the side quizzically. Oswald sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, screwing his eyes shut against the humiliation. “Okay yes, but what do you expect?! It had to pick now, of all times!”  
  
“And to think, people call me crazy!” Ed laughed, pushing himself up onto his knees again and sneaking a quick peek at the obvious bulge in Oswald’s jumpsuit. “So tell me...what brought that on?” Ed asked with a smug grin, as though he could read Oswald’s mind and see exactly what the smaller man had been thinking about before he woke up. Oswald scowled and pushed Ed off himself roughly, getting to his feet with as much dignity as he could spare.  
  
“Don’t flatter yourself! It was the friction, nothing more! I was trying to get you off...” Oswald snapped his jaw shut but Ed was already laughing.  
  
“Oh where you now?”  
  
“That is not what I meant and you know it! I meant I was trying to get you up!” Ed doubled over on the floor, laughs coming in short barks as he tried to breathe. “SHUT UP!” Oswald yelled, his face bright red and scowling as he watched Ed collapse to the floor clutching his sides, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Are you quite down! Need I remind you that we are supposed to be escaping!” Oswald snapped, crossing his arms over his chest when Ed raised one finger in a gesture meaning ‘give me a moment’. When the man’s laughter had finally subsided into occasional giggles he got to his feet and gestured for Oswald to lead the way. The huffy little man quirked his eyebrow before storming off again, in search of an exit, with  giggling Edward Nygma hot on his heels.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Okay, here’s one! What goes up but never comes down?” Edward asked, nudging Oswald’s shoulder in an attempt to get his attention.  
  
“My blood pressure.” Oswald answered smarmily,  gritting his teeth and begging for patience.  
  
“Wrong! Your age! What has four eyes but cannot see?”  
  
“You in a dark room?” Ed frowned for the first time since he’d started this stupid game and Oswald felt a curious mixture of regret and vindictiveness. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to dig the knife a little deeper or rush to an apology. It really was a low blow, even by Oswald’s standards.  
  
“That wasn’t very nice...but I guess I really shouldn’t have expected anything less from you.” Ed snapped, scolding himself for getting too comfy around the Penguin. For a moment it had almost felt like old times...and Ed hated to admit just how much he’d missed his friend, even to himself. A curious expression crossed Oswald’s face then, almost like regret...but that was ridiculous...  
  
“Did you forget that I’m the Penguin, I am not nice!” Oswald said, but even his tone sounded to Ed like it was full of sorrow and...longing? What could he possibly long for, he had everything...  
  
“Yes, I know who you are, Mr Penguin! I am not likely to forget! After all I know you better than anyone!” Ed barked, his pain rising up past his anger for the first in months and shocking him to his core. What shook him more though was the sudden sadness in Oswald’s expression.  
  
“You don’t know me as well as you think, Ed...” Oswald whispered, almost stuttering over the words like he was fighting with them. Ed went blank again, emptions warring with each other in his chest.  
  
“What does that me...”  
  
“I have a riddle for you Edward...” Oswald interrupted him, eyes gone curiously bright but with no hint of a smile around his mouth.  
  
“If you have it you want to share it...but if you share it you haven’t got it. What am I?”  
  
“A secret...” Ed answered, the words soft as a breath. “What secret?” Oswald smiled sadly.  
  
“That is the real riddle. And if I told you...I’d no longer have it, would I?” And with those words Oswald turned his back on Edward and limped away, leaving the taller man to trail along behind him, confused and more than a little afraid. What could Oswald possibly know that could hurt him so much? And why wouldn’t he tell Ed?  
  
They walked in silence for awhile, Oswald seething at his loss of composure and Edward’s mind running at a million miles an hour. He was so lost in his own mind, trying to piece together any clues that he might of missed to his former friends secret, that he walked right into Oswald’s back. The smaller man had stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, head cocked to one side as he strained to hear something.  
  
“What is it?” Edward asked, keeping his voice low.  
  
“Shh...Do you hear that? It sounds like...”  
  
“An alarm!” Edward yelled, grabbing Oswald by the arm and yanking him off down the hallway, dragging the slower man frantically despite his aching leg.  
  
As they rounded yet another bend, Ed was relieved that not only did the alarm sound distant (just how far did these tunnels stretch anyway?!) but that they had reached another set of rooms. As Ed dragged Oswald along he took a quick look into each of them – they appeared to be old abandoned cells. Perhaps they were under the Asylum or maybe even Gotham General? It wouldn’t be completely out of the realm of possibility that the Court Of Owls would use such forgotten places for their own twisted agenda. He would need to do some serious researching once they got out of here. Speaking of...  
  
Ed felt Oswald pull his hand free just ad they fled around the corner at the end of the cell block, and what they found made Ed’s heart leap. A staircase! Finally! He rushed to it and peered up, spotting a heavy iron door cracked slightly open. He could feel a breath of fresh air, a welcome relief from the dank air in the tunnels, and the heavy artificial glow of a streetlight was filtering through the cracks. This was it! They were getting out!  
  
“Oswald! We found it!” Ed cried, turning to face his partner...and meeting only empty space. He frowned and step back around the bend, thinking Os might have detoured into on of the cells for a closer look – did the little idiot think they had time for sightseeing? – but he stopped dead in his tracks at the scene before him, the colour draining from his face leaving him drawn and sick looking. This couldn’t be...this could not be real!  
  
“Edward! You came back for me...I just knew you would, my love.” Ed’s stomach lurched in panic and he began to tremble, eyes darting swiftly between her face...and the knife she had pressed into Oswald’s neck.  
  
“Isabella?” He asked, praying he was wrong. She couldn’t be alive. This was some trick, it had to be...She smiled in a twisted way which set his teeth on edge. _Not right._  
  
“Yes Edward...I’m here...”  
  


* * *

  
  
“You...you can’t be here...you’re dead! He killed you!” Edward barked, pointing at Oswald who looked about ready to faint, a curious look for the almighty Penguin. Ed felt a surge of anger, but his thoughts were too clouded by the oddness of the situation that he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was he was angry about – the memory of his friends betrayal, his confusion...the knife pressing into Oswald’s pale flesh? No. He hated him...he killed...no...  
  
Isabella was smiling adoringly at Edward, the hand not currently gripping the knife was clamped over Oswald’s mouth, muffling his words and yells.  
  
“Yes he did...and you killed him to avenge me, just like the court promised you would! It was so very romantic Eddie.” She beamed at him and Ed felt a chill creep down his spine. Something about her expression. Something was there... _or wasn’t there_...that was scraping on Edward’s nerves, but what it was he did not know. _Not right_. What does that even MEAN?!  
  
“The Court? What do they have to do with this?” Edward asked, unsure if he really wanted the answer but helpless against his own obsessive curiosity.  
  
“Why everything of course. They control all of Gotham, after all.” Isabella looked wistfully away, a fond smile gracing her lips. “They made me for you when you needed me, and this evil man was ruining you!” She yanked Oswald’s head back and pressed the knife in harder, the tip piercing into the skin, a pinprick of blood welling up beneath it and trickling slowly downwards. Edward clenched his teeth and fought to keep his face neutral. “And after you shot him they thought that would be the end of it but oh no, the little Penguin just had to come back! And the Court couldn’t have that now could they? So they sent me back to you again to offer you a deal...kill him, and you and I can leave together. They wont interfere. Oh think of it, Ed! We will be so happy once The Penguin is dead! We can always be together. Forever. Like a fairy tale.” Her voice was growing louder, bordering on hysterical, and Edward’s mind was struggling to comprehend everything she had said. The Court had sent her to him? The had to have a reason...Oswald. They wanted Oswald dead...She was a plant...all this time...  
  
_They sent me back to you...again...  
_  
“What did you mean they sent you _again_?” Edward asked, already suspecting the truth but praying it wasn’t true.  
  
“After you killed me they had everything they needed to...” Isabella started but Ed cut her off quickly.  
  
“I killed you?” She smiled sadly and nodded.  
  
“Yes, don’t you remember? Back when my name was Kristen? They took me then and brought me back, retraining me and making me perfect for you. I was perfect right? You loved me?” She asked, seeming so genuinely concerned about his feelings, but Ed was fighting not to vomit as reality rushed in to floor him. She wasn’t real. She had never been real. Had Oswald known? His eyes flickered to his former friend and they locked gazes. Yes, Ed saw the truth there. Maybe he hadn’t known the full extent, but Ed would get the whole story later, one way or the other he would get his answers. Ed turned his gaze back to Isabe...Krist...Her and unbidden, his grews grew hot with furious tears.  
  
“You were perfect in every way. I was a completely fooled into love.” She cocked her head to the side, mildly confused but happy to hear he was satisfied.  
  
“We can have all that again Eddie...We just have to kill your pet Penguin. You did it for me once, you can do it again, I know you can!” Oswald let out a yelp behind her hand and his eyes grew wide with fright, darting from her face over her shoulder to Ed’s calmly blank face a few feet away. He didn’t go through all of this just to die again, and now Ed knew about her he would be in trouble. He needed Oswald now...  
  
Ed was busy knitting together her story, adding it to his assumptions about Oswald’s knowledge, and forming the full picture. This Court had set out to manipulate him, bringing his dead girlfriend back to life and using his live for her to push him away from Oswald. When had Oswald realised that she was a plant? Did he have her investigated? That would make sense, Oswald was a very paranoid man and with good reason he had been stabbed in the back one too many times to ever fully trust a stranger. Also Oswald was a master at reading people. Had he seen what Ed had been too blinded by love to see for himself? Then why not just tell him?! Would you have believed him? He must have had proof, files, unquestionable evidence and therefore no reason not to tell him! Why have her killed and then allow himself to be killed without ever uttering a word? God damn it, why!  
  
Love?  
  
_If you have it you want to share it_  
  
He really loves me?  
  
_If you share it you haven’t got it._  
  
Her betrayal would have killed him. Oswald would have known that...better to die than to hurt those you love. Her death hurt me! Yes, but had you not found out about the murder you would have eventually moved on. How does Oswald think? In best case scenarios, of course.   
  
_You know him better than anyone. And he loves you more than anything._  
  
_Love is sacrificing everything for someone else...you told him he was incapable of doing that...but all this time..._  
  
Sorrow crashed into Edward like a wave, and he let out a soft moan of dispair as his knees gave way. He hit the solid stone floor, barely registering the flare of pain up his legs as he brought both hands up to cover his face. It was all coming to him clearly now. Oswald hadn’t betrayed him, not really. Oswald, his best friend, had saved him. The man had gone to his watery grave trying to protect him...out of love for him, he had kept his silence...to spare Ed a greater pain. His pride was all he had and Oswald knew what a betrayal would do to him. He would have given up completely. And if Oswald had told him before she died...Well Ed would have killed her...and then himself. The guilt of Kristen’s murder already weighed on him but to add another to his list...  
  
“Oh dear...” Ed sobbed, never noticing that she had forced Oswald to the ground and turned to reach out for him with her now free hand. Oswald couldn’t have run even if he wanted to, his eyes were locked to Edward, wide and fearful. He knew what was coming next, even if she didn’t.  
  
“Oh Eddie, don’t cry. We’re together again and everything will be wonderful, you’ll see. You just have one little job to do and then everything will be all better.” She cooed, running her fingers through his hair to comfort him. She squeaked loudly when Ed’s own hand shot out to grab her wrist, pulling her face close to his. A quiver of fear ran through her when Ed’s eyes locked with hers and she saw him clearly for the first time. He grinned through his tears.  
  
“When I first laid eyes on you, you stole from me  
Now that I see you, I shall steal from you.  
What will I steal?”  
  
She smiled warmly and drew closer to him, lips hovering just above his own.  
  
“My heart?” She answered in a whisper, eyes fluttering shut in anticipation of a kiss.  
  
“Wrong.” Edward smirked and clamped his free hand around her throat, squeezing off her air supply and chuckling when her eyes flew open again, wide with sudden panic. “Your breath”  
  


* * *

  
It was over in less than two minutes. Ed kept the pressure on relentlessly, oblivious to her frantic struggling and the scratches she left on his face, hands and face. Even when she tore off his glasses in her panic he didn’t flinch, he just held her steady and waited for her heart to stop.  
  
When she finally expires, Ed dropped her body to the floor with a dull thunk and crumpled in on himself. Oswald had been pressed up against the opposite wall, watching the whole scene play out before him and fearing that he may be Ed’s next target, but when the broken man gave no sign of rising Oswald pushed himself away from the wall with much hesitation. He knew he had to move slowly, not wanting to startle the man. He crawled across the floor to retrieve Ed’s fallen glasses and brought them back to where Ed was hunched over on all fours, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Oswald’s heart clenched at the sight of his friend so broken, and tapped him gently on the shoulder to get his attention. When Ed looked up at him, Os was relieved to see no hatred in his eyes, but the sorrow and regret was almost worse. He held out the glasses for Edward, cautiously take a seat beside him while Ed put them on and adjusted them on his nose. The silence stretched on for awhile before Ed finally spoke.  
  
“I am so very sorry, Oswald...” Ed whispered, voice hoarse and broken. It was a horrible sound to Oswald, who turned to stare at him in shock.  
  
“Why are you apologising, Edward? Oswald asked, aghast, and Ed smiled but there was no warmth in it. He reached out a hand, and although Oswald flinched he did pull away when Ed pressed his hand over the clothed scar of the bullet wound that Ed himself had inflicted on him.  
  
“I regretted it from the moment I pulled the trigger, but I was too stubborn and pig headed to admit it. I wanted more than anything to dive into those waters and pull you back but...I couldn’t. I thought I was being strong but in fact it was my weakness showing. I couldn’t run after you now. I was afraid. So I pushed it down and tried to convince myself that I didn’t care. I thought that was my first mistake...but as it turns out it was my last. The first mistake I made was falling in love with _that_.” He jerked his head in the direction of her body, eyes darkening, and Oswald reacted on instinct, reaching out to grip Ed’s head between his hands and turning his face towards his own, away from her.   
  
“Ed you didn’t know! I made sure of that! When I found out that she was just using you...”  
  
“You had her killed.” Ed said. It wasn’t a question. Oswald sighed and removed his hands from Ed’s cheeks, head drooping.  
  
“I wanted to tell you. I really did...but you had worked so hard to become the strong confident man that I fell in love with that I couldn’t bear to watch her betrayal tear you apart. Better she died in some tragic accident, that way you still had a chance to recover.” Oswald sighed heavily and picked at a stray thread in his jumpsuit distractedly. “But then you found out it was me and...I panicked!” His voice broke hysterically as the memories resurfaced. The fear of discovery when Ed had started prying, the frantic scramble to cover his tracks. He would never tell Ed the truth, but that didn’t mean he wanted to die if he could help it. And he knew Ed would kill him. It was a fact, proven by the scar that Oswald now bore. Ed had been listening carefully and could finally understand why Oswald had done what he had done. The words were real.  
  
“So when you told me you loved me? You meant that?” Ed asked, his heart thudding quickly against his ribs. He had been so sure that Oswald wasn’t capable of true love, and that whatever he felt he was simply using to save his own skin. Now, well he wasn’t so sure. Oswald looked up at Ed in disbelief, mouth hung open.  
  
“Of course! I have always loved you Ed I...” Oswald snapped shut quickly when he realised what he’d said and turned his face away to hide his reddening cheeks, but in doing so he missed the flicker of Ed’s cheeky grin coming back to him. “It doesn’t matter now anyway...” Oswald muttered softly to the shadows. “You made it abundantly clear that you do not feel the same way, and I can’t blame you for that. Can we just forget I ever said it?” Ed sighed and shook his head.  
  
“I am afraid that is not possible for me Oswald, and in fact I had something important to say about that.” Ed said, glad that Oswald had his back to him so he could not see the humour in Ed’s eyes. “I have another apology to make...” Oswald whipped around and Ed could see he had been crying.  
  
“Ed no, please, you do not have to apologise for how you feel. I knew I had no chance with a man like you and I should never have burdened you with my feelings I...”  
  
“Oswald!” Ed yelled, reaching forward and placing a hand over Os’ mouth to shut him up. “Please let me finish. I wanted to apologise...for lying to you.” Oswald couldn’t speak, but he did furrow his brow in confusion, a reaction Ed had seen a thousand times but would never grow tired of seeing. He could only hope that once he had confessed his own secret, to both Oswald and himself, that his friend could find it in his heart to forgive him.  
  
When he felt it was safe, he lowered his hand from Oswald’s mouth and the man began speaking immediately.  
  
“Ed as much as you have done in your life I am sure you have never lied to me...” Oswald said, but his voice was shaking and his words full of doubt. Ed smiled sadly and looked away, feeling utterly ashamed now at how he had treated this wonderful man before him. Well, it was time to start making it up.  
  
“I have once...” Ed whispered, hands shaking in his lap. It was now or never. “When I told you that I didn’t love you.”  
Oswald felt like his heart would burst, his head was light and for one moment he could hardly believe what he had heard.  
  
“You can’t.” Oswald finally said and Ed’s head snapped back to face him. “You hate me, I hurt you!” Os stuttered, all his words seeming to flee from him. Ed gave him another sad smile and shook his head.  
  
“I hated you when you killed her, but now I know the truth. I realised I loved you after I shot you and found out first hand just how right you were when you said you were the only one who understood me...and now I know the truth I am still hurting, but I know now it wasn’t you who caused it. On the contrary, you tried to help me. Even when it resulted in your death. No one has ever done so much for me. My pain is fading...but my love...” Oswald’s breathing hitched when Ed reached across his lap to take his hand, squeezing it gently. “That has never gone away. I love you, Oswald Cobblepot. And I fear I always will...you really are a tenacious little beast.” The sudden cheeky smile Ed gave him had Oswald grinning, and without warning he launched forward, scrambling into Ed’s lap and pulling him into a tight hug. Ed sighed happily, and when he felt Oswald tense he wrapped him tightly in a hug so he couldn’t retreat back. As he embraced the smaller man in his lap, the grief which Ed had been trying to keep at bay for months finally broke through the surface and he began to sob onto Oswald’s shoulder. His friend didn’t even seem fazed at Ed’s outburst, and sat rubbing his back and hushing him while the taller man cried it out. Ed begged forgiveness, and Oswald kissed him gently on the cheek, he wailed for his loss and Oswald promised him the world, and when from somewhere in the distance they heard the sound of shouting voice, Os took a hold of him and dragged him to his feet. They had to leave, to go home, and once they were there Oswald was determined to bring his friend back to him one way or the other.  
  
As they mounted the steps and reached the door, Ed stopped them momentarily to face Oswald in the weak light from the street. He clasped Oswald’s hand and leaned in, pressing his lips to Os’ in a gentle peck before pulling away quickly.  
  
“Whatever we do from here on out we do together.” Ed swore and Oswald smiled at him, a hint of a promise in those beautiful eyes.  
  
“Together Edward. Always.”


End file.
